Sunset let out a long yawn as she followed Princess Twilight along the dirt path that lead to Sweet Apple Acres. When Twilight had told her to be up early, she wasn't thinking of so early that even Princess Celestia wasn't awake.
Sunset released another yawn. “You sure they're gonna be up? I mean, it's not exactly polite to rouse somepony from a peaceful sleep.” She glared at the princess, who had done just that a few moments ago.
“The Apple Family prides itself for being up before the sun” said Princess Twilight, “It's very rare to have to wake an Apple.”
Sunset let out a grunt and slightly shifted the load on her back. “How come I have to carry him? Moreover, how come he gets to sleep?”
“Spike has a long day ahead if he is to have everything prepared for Monday. Also, need I remind you he is also a baby dragon? He needs just as much sleep a foal.”
Spike mumbled in his sleep. He stretched, reaching out a claw and grabbed onto Sunset's mane.
Sunset winced as her hair was yanked. “Still doesn't explain he has to come; or why I have to carry him. Also, what do you feed him? He feels like he weighs a ton.”
The small dragon stirred lightly, mumbling softly under his breath “...rocks.”
Celestia's sun began to creep over the horizon as the trio came upon the Apple farmhouse. Applejack was waiting for them at the door. “Mornin' Twi!” she smiled, “Sunset.”
Sunset yawned.
“Morning, Applejack” Twilight returned the smile, “Well, here she is. Bright and early as promised.”
“Good thin', too” replied the farmer, “We've gotta ton of work to do.”
Again, Sunset noticed a tension between the two friends. She became quite interested to know what had gone on between them. However, at the moment, she had more pressing issues. “What kind of work?” Sunset asked.
“Well," she smiled, "ther's collectin' the eggs, milkin' the cows, feedin' the chickens and sloppin' the hogs.”
“Wait,” Sunset sounded hopeful, “That's it? Then we're done?”
Applejack let out a hearty laugh. “Heck, no!” She lead Sunset to the barn, “Then we can have breakfast!”
Twilight gently took Spike in her magic, lifting him from Sunset's back, placing him onto her own. She waved as the other ponies walked off. “You two have fun!”
“Fun” wasn't exactly as Sunset would have described it. Between fighting with chickens, getting personal with a cow, and playing waitress to swine, she was having anything but “fun”.
To top it all off, Applejack had instructed that she couldn't use magic, besides basic levitating, on any of her tasks.
“Jus' ain't the way thin's are done here” the earth pony proudly touted.
Sunset shook off the mud from pigsty and grumbled something about “country water” under her breath, but left it at that.
She helped Applejack carry the eggs and milk back to the farmhouse. Walking into the kitchen, Sunset saw breakfast was already underway. Spike had finally awoken and was seated at the table enjoying a tall stack of steaming, fluffy pancakes.
Twilight was at the stove assisting Apple Bloom. “Well,” she smiled at her charge, “I trust you've worked up an appetite?”
“Have I ever!” Sunset replied, laying down her load. She picked up some plates and silverware and finished setting the table.
“Hello?” came a hesitant knock at the door.
“Oh,” Spike cried, “that's Moondancer!” He jumped down and ran to open the door.
“Moondancer!” Twilight smiled, placing a plate of toast on the table. “Glad you could make it!”
Moondancer stepped timidly over the threshold. “You... uh... sure I'm not intruding?”
“Nonsense!” beamed Apple Bloom, “More's the merrier, right, Big Mac?”
The large red stallion kicked the soil from his hooves as he entered the kitchen right behind Moondancer. “Eeyup!”
“Where's Starlight?” asked Twilight.
Moondancer took a seat at the table next to Spike. “She's at the train station. Got a message from Sunburst that he was coming in on the morning train.”
“Alright!" Applebloom called, "Everypony take a seat!”
“Well, about time!” an elderly green mare grumbled, walking into the kitchen from the main house “Half the mornin's gone!”
Breakfast commenced with Twilight dispensing out the introductions.
“So, youngin'” Granny Smith eyed Sunset, “Think yer up fer a day on tha farm?”
Sunset rolled her eyes. “Pfft! Please, compared to what Princess Twilight has been putting me through, this is light work.”
“Is that so?” Applejack stared half-lidded over her drink towards Twilight. She smiled inwardly when she saw the princess slightly shrink away. She'd talked Twilight's ears off about the importance of honesty, and made it quite clear how she didn't appreciate being pulled into the deceit.
Sunset chose to ignore her new task master, and instead continued with her meal, happy to finally have a plate-full of scrambled eggs.
Applejack kept a close eye on Twilight from across the table. Something about the way the princess averted her gaze whenever their eyes met, gave her great satisfaction. She wanted Twilight to squirm.
Not that Applejack was completely against the arrangement. While always happy to have another set of of hooves on the farm, and a day's work was a fair trade for the eaten apples, it was the pretenses surrounding the whole situation that she was strongly adverse to--and she made sure Twilight knew it. Though the princess may have eventually won her over by arguing that a day out of the castle and in the open air would be good for Sunset, as far as Applejack was concerned, Twilight owed her big for this favor. And, already, she had come up with some ideas to make her friend pay.
---
With breakfast over, and Sunset sent back to work, Twilight, Moondancer, and Spike made the return trek to the castle.
“I'm really anxious to see what Sunburst has so far” said Moondancer, “Starlight said he lives up in the Crystal Empire. Does that mean he should have access to their historical writings?” She took a moment to breath before prancing in place. “Oh! This is so exciting!”
“I'm more anxious to compare your notes with his” responded Twilight, a little less enthusiastically, “If they're similar, then we know we're on the right track. But, there is still much to learn.” She let out a long breath, “And I fear we're losing time.”
“Look, Twilight” Moondancer leaned against her friend, gently nuzzling her, “I understand you're worried about Sunset Shimmer and, who's this new pony? Wallflower Blush? Anyway, I see there is a lot on your shoulders right now. But, you don't have to keep it all to yourself. We're all here to help you. Together, we'll figure this out.”
Spike let out a sigh. “That's what I've been trying to tell her.”
Twilight nuzzled Moondancer back. “Thanks. I'll try to remember that.”
"And," Moondancer said, "you can begin by telling Sunset what's going on." She cast a curious glance when Twilight faltered. "Come-on, Twilight, how long are you going to let this go on? It's only a matter of time before she suspects something, if she doesn't already."
Twilight only looked away. She would have continued walking, but Moondancer had blocked her path.
"What of Starlight Glimmer? Sunset is her friend, too. I can't be the only one who sees how she looks at Sunset. Why do you continue to hurt her? Why do you continue to hurt yourself?"
That last statement shocked Twilight.
"You think I can't see what this is doing to you? Twilight, I've known you for years. I've learned to read you like a book. You can try hide it, but I can see the weariness growing on your face."
"I mention it to her every morning" Spike added.
"Twilight," Moondancer looked squarely, "at some point, this needs to be done. What is it you're waiting for?"
Before the princess could give her answer, another voice filled the air.
“Twilight! Moondancer! There you are!” Starlight came running down the road to meet them; a smile plastered on her face. “Sunburst is here! He's waiting for us in the library!” She ignited her horn and, in a few short seconds, they were standing in the middle of the study library.
Moondancer stumbled a bit, trying to regain her bearings. “A little heads up next time” she teetered, “Please?”
“When she's like this?” replied Spike, offering Moondancer a supporting arm, “Not gonna happen.”
“Ah!” a voice called from the corner, “Starlight, you're back! That was fast.”
Starlight made with a quick introduction between Moondancer and Sunburst. The large grin still shone across her face. Twilight began to wonder if she really should have pushed for so many friendship lessons with Pinkie Pie. More importantly, she wondered what Starlight had put in her morning tea.
“So,” Moondancer said, pawing the floor between her and Sunburst, “I understand you've also been working on a translation of the code.”
“Oh, yes” Sunburst adjusted his glasses, “It's a very interesting one indeed. Nice work finding it, by the way.”
Moondancer blushed slightly. "Ah, it was nothing, really..."
"No, I'm serious. A message hidden in plain sight? It's so obvious, but, at the same time, not."
A smile flashed across the mare's face. “I know, right? How simple and, yet, complex!”
“The use of the northern versus southern spellings was a stroke of absolute genius!”
“Whoever wrote it would have had to have extensive knowledge of both alphabets.”
“Not only that, but also know which words were and weren't written differently to know not to include them.”
"But, what tipped you off to it?" asked Twilight. That had been nagging her.
"It was the word 'stayn'" said Moondancer.
Starlight tilted her head. "Stayn?"
"Stone" Sunburst translated.
"It was the only word that had northern spelling, but was still spelt the southern way. It also told me that I would be using the southern spellings."
“Anyway," Sunburst said, sorting through his papers, "I've hit a bit of a snag decoding the message on the back. My library just doesn't have that big of a resource selection in regards to decrypting cyphers, so figured now would be a good time to come over and compare notes. ”
"As I mentioned in my letters," Starlight began, "We haven't made that much progress."
Moondancer sadly nodded. "We've been hitting snags of our own. But, would love to see what you have."
"Great!" the stallion smiled, making room on the table for Moondancer, "Let's get started."
Starlight and Spike were anxious to help and were quickly employed.
“You four do that” Twilight said, reading from her communication journal. “We have another problem. Wallflower's gone missing.”